International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, 1946, (TIAS
1849); Protocol amending 1956 (TIAS 4228).
Text and amendments to the covention:
Whaling Convention Act of 1949 (64 Stat. 421, 16 U.S.C. 916-9161).
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominica, Finland, France, Germany, Grenada, India, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, People's Republic of China, Peru, Russian Federation, Senegal, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, United Kingdom, United States, and Venezuela.
International Whaling Commission
The Red House
Station Road, Histon
Cambridge, CB4 4NP, United Kingdom
Secretary: Dr. R. Gambell
Phone: 011-44-1223-233-971
Web site:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/iwcoffice/
The Commission approved a budget of 1,064,980 pounds sterling (approximately $1,610,000) for 1995-96. The U.S. contribution amounts to 46,865 pounds sterling (approximately $73,000).
Appointment Process:
The Commissioner is appointed by the President, on the concurrent recommendations of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Commerce, and serves at his pleasure. The President may also appoint a Deputy U.S. Commissioner.
U.S. Commissioner:
Dr. D. James Baker
Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Department of Commerce
Washington, D.C. 20230
Deputy Commissioner:
Dr. Michael F. Tillman
Director, Southwest Fisheries Science Center
National Marine Fisheries Service
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
La Jolla, CA 92038-0271
Advisory Structure:
U.S. representation in the IWC has no formal (legislated) advisory structure. The IWC Commissioner does consult, however, with the "IWC Interagency Committee," which includes representatives of the DOS, the Marine Mammal Commission, other Federal agencies, conservation organizations, and other interested parties.
Mission/Purpose:
The 1946 Convention has as its objective the proper conservation of world whale stocks, thus making possible the orderly development of the whaling industry. The Convention established the IWC to provide for a continuing review of the condition of whale stocks and for such additions to or modifications of the agreed conservation measures as might appear desirable.
Organizational Structure:
The IWC consists of the Commission, Secretariat, and subject area committees. The Commission is composed of one member from each Contracting Government, and may be accompanied by one or more experts and advisors. Each member government has one vote. Decisions of the Commission are by simple majority of those members voting, except that a three-fourths majority of those members is required for actions to amend the provisions of the Schedule (which contains the binding decisions of the Commission). The Commission can determine its own rules of procedure and may appoint its own Secretary and staff. The Committees may be set up by the Commission from its own members and experts or advisors to perform such functions as it may authorize.
Programs:
The IWC normally meets once a year to review the condition of whale stocks and to modify conservation measures as appropriate. The Commission has used various means of regulating commercial whaling including the fixing of open and closed seasons, open and closed areas, protected species, size limits for each species, and limits on the catch of whales in any one season. The IWC recognizes two distinct types of whaling: commercial whaling and aboriginal subsistence whaling.
Past actions by the IWC include establishment of a whale sanctuary in the Indian Ocean area, prohibition on the use of cold grenade (non-exploding) harpoons to kill whales for commercial purposes, a moratorium on all commercial whaling from the beginning of the 1985-86 pelagic and 1986 coastal seasons, and the adoption of a separate and distinct management scheme for aboriginal subsistence whaling. Criteria for evaluating research involving the killing of whales under special permits were established because of concerns that some countries would use special permits for scientific research as a means of circumventing the zero catch limits for commercial whaling. The 1946 Convention allows countries to issue special permits authorizing the taking of whales for scientific research.
At the 1994 Annual Meeting, the IWC established a sanctuary in most of the waters south of 40 S. latitude. At the same time, the Commission accepted the work of the Scientific Committee to date on the Revised Management Procedure, and noted additional steps required to complete the Revised Management Scheme, including developing an effective inspection and observation scheme. The United States received IWC approval for Alaska Eskimos to land an average of 51 bowhead whales per year for 4 years for aboriginal subsistence whaling.
The United States will strive to improve the efficiency of the bowhead hunt by aiming at 75 percent efficiency in 1995 (with a maximum of 68 strikes), 76 percent in 1996 (67 strikes maximum), 77 percent in 1997 (66 strikes maximum) and 78 percent in 1998 (65 strikes maximum). In 1995, the IWC called upon Norway to halt all commercial whaling activities under its jurisdiction immediately and to withdraw its objection to the moratorium on commercial whaling. It passed a resolution calling for countries to improve mechanisms to prevent illegal trade in whale meat, and it called for contracting governments to refrain from issuing special permits for lethal research whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The United States informed the Commission that its Makah Indian Tribe had expressed an interest in resuming a hunt for gray whales, and that the United States might make a formal request to the IWC in 1996 for such a quota.
The IWC continues to maintain the moratorium on commercial whaling. However, in 1993, Norway (which lodged a timely objection to the 1982 moratorium decision, and therefore is not bound by that decision) authorized a quota of 160 minke whales from the northeast Atlantic. This action did not have the approval of the IWC. In 1994, Norway continued this practice and unilaterally authorized a take of 206 minke whales from the same stock, and 215 were taken in 1995.
Japan is engaged in lethal research on minke whales in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, where up to 440 animals are taken each year, and in the North Pacific, where up to 100 animals are taken each year. Although the IWC has concluded that these programs are contrary to its conservation goals, scientific whaling is allowed under the Convention.
Russia, Denmark (for Greenland), and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (for Bequia) have quotas from the IWC for aboriginal subsistence whaling, as does the United States.
NOAA Fisheries:
Angela Somma, F/PRX1
Office of Protected Resources
1315 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone: (301) 713-2319
Department of State:
Erica Keen
OES/OA, Room 5801
Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520-7818
Phone: (202) 647-3262
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